VoL 58™| General Notes. 131 



In March, 1897, Prof. Wells W. Cooke published his ' Birds of Colorado ' 

 from the Colorado Agricultural College, quoting this record and adding the 

 note that " one was probably taken by Capt. P. M. Thorne at Fort Lyon," 

 no date or other particulars of this reported capture being given. Through- 

 out the three succeeding supplements to this work these records are per- 

 mitted to stand without comment. 



The next important work on the state birds was W. L. Sclater's ' History 

 of the Birds of Colorado,' and as the original material therein was taken 

 mainly from the Aiken collection at Colorado College, additional data 

 relative to this specimen might have been expected. His only comment, 

 however, was that " I have not been able to trace this specimen in the 

 Aiken collection," indicating that the bird had probably been lost or 

 destroyed. 



As it is obvious that the record credited to Capt. Thorne cannot stand 

 scrutiny, the status of the species in the State thus depends upon the exist- 

 ence of the Aiken specimen. The recent acquisition of a fine Colorado 

 specimen by the Colorado Museum of Natural History aroused my interest 

 in the matter and stimulated an investigation that adds considerably to the 

 known history of the earlier record. 



A letter to Mr. Aiken enlisted his generous assistance and a few pas- 

 sages from his reply will be of interest in this connection. He states, in 

 part: " In 1872 I went to Denver .... and while there called on Rudolph 

 Borcherdt (taxidermist). I saw at his shop 3 or 4 Buteo skins and when 

 I exhibited interest in them Mr. Borcherdt gave them to me. I did not 

 inquire where they were from . . . One of these sent to Ridgway for iden- 

 tification he pronounced Buteo cooperi. Years after, in 1883, I think, 

 Ridgway wrote requesting me to send this specimen for reexamination and it 

 was then determined to be B. harlani. The specimen I believe was 

 untagged and Ridgway quite naturally assumed that I had killed it and 

 near Colorado Springs. The specimen may be lost . . . . " 



Accordingly, although the identity of the specimen may remain unques- 

 tioned, it will be readily noted that while probable, there is no definite 

 proof that the original record of Buteo b. harlani was a Colorado killed bird. 

 In fact, evidence from other taxidermists of this early period indicate that 

 a great many specimens were brought into the State from outside sources, 

 mounted here and sold without any information being given as to their 

 locality or collector, and the assumption that such material was of local 

 take has been the cause of numerous errors which have crept into Colo- 

 rado's ornithology. So, whether lost or not, this record must be regarded 

 as questionable and were it not for the recent capture it might be necessary 

 to eliminate the species from the accurate list of Colorado birds. 



The Colorado Museum specimen, No. C. M. N. H. 7343, adult male, was 

 killed near Littleton, Colorado, October 16, 1918. It is nearly typical in 

 every respect, so much so in fact that were it before Dr. Coues when he 

 wrote his ' Key ' the description as there given would have been but slightly 

 altered. — F. C. Lincoln, Colo. Museum Nat. Hist., Denver, Coloro<h>. 



